Hitsuzen
by fantasylover12001
Summary: Yuko has often talked about hitsuzen around Watanuki. What he doesn't know is that hitsuzen is not the only thing that binds the two of them together. Past ClowYuko, Future DxW yaoi, NO FLAMES.
1. Prologue

HITSUZEN

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: PG-13 for the yaoi part

DISCLAIMER: Sadly I do not own the characters of xxxHolic. That honor and privilege goes to the wonderful ladies of CLAMP. May they keep continuing to create wonderful series with tons of yaoi implications for us fangirls. Because you KNOW they do it on purpose.

SUMMARY: Yuko has often talked about hitsuzen around Watanuki. What he doesn't know is that there is a lot more then hitsuzen that binds him to Yuko.

PAIRING: eventually Doumeki/Watanuki, past Clow/Yuko.

AUTHOR NOTES: This fic is based on a crazy theory I got while rereading xxxHolic. While reading it I couldn't help but notice how much Yuko and Watanuki look alike and how much Watanuki resembles Clow. We don't really know how old Yuko is either, I get the feeling she's a lot older then she looks. Thus this little plot bunny was born. It's probably highly improbable but it's still fun to write up. There will be future yaoi so if you don't like that then I suggest you don't read. Don't flame me for it because I do not tolerate flames.

PROLOGUE: CLOW AND YUKO

Someone as old as I am is bound to have regrets.

It would probably surprise you to learn that I only have one. I do not regret becoming the granter of wishes. I do not regret some of the awful things I have witnessed. I most certainly do not regret falling in love with Clow Reed. Though love might be a strong word for the affection we had for each other.

No, none of that I regret.

My only regret is not seeing my son grow up. Oh, I checked in on him time to time but it's not the same. The couple who adopted him were good people, I'm sorry they died, they deserved a better a fate. I don't care for the foster family my son lives with now but there's nothing that can be done.

It was best for him to live in the real world. Growing up in this world of magic would be too dangerous for him. Clow and I had too many enemies at the time who would love nothing more then to snatch him up for revenge. Besides which, I know nothing about raising children, he was probably better off with a couple that did.

Today I finally have a chance to do something about this regret though. For today I finally get to meet my son face to face. As a matter of fact, I hear him coming now with Maru and Moro.

The two girls pull him in the room despite his loud protests.

"L-look, my legs ran me in here on their own!" he stutters out as they pull him in.

"That's proof that your coming to visit was _Hitsuzen_," I reply, getting his attention.

He blinks, "Huh?"

'_Hello my son'_ I think with pride as I tell him the definition of the word.

It is finally time for the training to begin.

AUTHOR NOTES: I'm sorry if Yuko is a little out of character here. This is my first dive into the xxxHolic fandom. I'm not sure how long this will be or how long it'll take for the next update. If you're confused about the training part, that will be explained in the fic (it's another part of a theory I have).


	2. Chapter 1: Watanuki's Very Bad Day

HITSUZEN

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: PG-13/T

DISCLAIMER: I do not own xxxHolic or any of it's characters. I am also (sadly) not making any money off of this fic so please don't sue because I am a broke college student. You won't get anything except for a stack of bills.

WARNINGS: this will have future yaoi so if you don't like that then please don't read it. I do not tolerate flames so don't bother with that either. This is also my first xxxHolic fic and all I have to go by is the English translation by Delray so forgive me if there are a few cannon mistakes.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to all who reviewed the first part! Just so you know this will mostly be done in Watanuki's POV. I just thought doing the prologue in Yuko's POV would be an interesting touch. There shouldn't be too many POV switches though since that could get confusing for people.

CHAPTER 1: WATANUKI'S VERY BAD DAY

Watanuki Kimihiro hated Mondays. In particular, he hated Monday mornings.

He dealt with his irritation by hitting his alarm clock repeatedly. One of the blessings of moving into his own place before his senior year was the fact that now, no one could tell him to get up when he didn't want to.

Well, theoretically anyway.

"Arrgh!" he yelped when he was pounced on. He glared at the one responsible for disrupting his sleep. It was of course, the pipe spirit, whom Yuko had insisted he take in when he moved. He had protested (loudly) but there was no arguing with that woman sometimes. So now he was stuck with the thing following him around happily all the time. The spirit didn't seem to know it had done anything wrong though, and instead of cowering under Watanuki's glare like it was supposed too, the spirit crooned happily and licked him.

'_It'd be safer for me, my ass. Yuko-san just made me take it in to annoy me_' he thought as he got out of bed. Sometimes it felt like the wish granter was determined to run his life. First she made him spend time with Doumeki and now, even though he was trying to gain independence, she made him take in the spirit to watch over him when Doumeki wasn't around. If that wasn't enough, he was STILL working at the damn shop even after three years. You'd think he'd have earned enough for that wish by now.

'_If my wish isn't granted by the time I graduate, I quit!' _he thought in determination as he started to get ready for school.

The fact that he technically hadn't really applied for the job in first place was a technicality. He hoped.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

"Hey!" a voice called out to him as he headed towards the school.

Not bothering to turn around, for he already knew who it was, Watanuki muttered, "How many times do I have to say that my name is not hey?"

As he expected, Doumeki didn't bother answering him. This had become rather a routine for the two of them over the last few years. Over the last year or so the two of them had settled into what Watanuki thought was an odd relationship. They were no longer annoyances to each other and yet he was hesitant to call Doumeki a friend. He was pretty sure friends didn't tick each other off as often as Doumeki annoyed him and vice versa. He was also pretty sure friends didn't get weird feelings around each other like the ones he felt around Doumeki.

Watanuki blinked and yelped when a movement inside his uniform broke him out of his musings. "Oi!" he danced around trying to grab at the mystery object while Doumeki looked calmly on.

"You could help, you know!" Watanuki shouted at the other boy.

"You seem to have it under control," Doumeki said coolly, though Watanuki swore he heard a hint of amusement in the other's voice.

"Jerk!"

Doumeki's answer was a shrug.

Finally Watanuki was able to apprehend the culprit. "You! You're supposed to be at home!" the boy shouted in exasperation at the pipe spirit.

"Don't you think you should come up with a name for him?" Doumeki commented.

"He's a spirit! Spirits don't need names!"

Doumeki raised an eyebrow.

"Well they don't!" He turned to the spirit, who was now contentedly wrapping itself around his arm. "Don't do that! You need to get home now. I cannot bring you to school."

The spirit ignored him and crooned.

"You might as well bring him," Doumeki said. "We better get going if we don't want to be late. It'll be fine if he just stays out of sight."

Watanuki sighed and started to follow him to school. "You think this is hysterical, don't you?" he grumbled to the taller boy.

"Kind of," came a bland reply.

'_Yup, I can tell this is going to be a great day_' Watanuki thought sarcastically.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

By lunch time Watanuki already wanted the day to be over.

A teacher had reprimanded him in front of the whole class first thing in the morning for not paying attention even though he was, he was just a bit distracted what with the spirit hiding in his book bag and all.

In his next class there was a pop quiz and it was math, which was his worst subject. Somehow he had managed to leave all of his writing utensils at home and so had to borrow from a fellow student. Then in his literature class he got back an essay that was a grade lower then what he had been expecting. When he tried to argue with the teacher over it he got ignored.

"My arguments were not faulty," he muttered to himself, as he remembered the teacher's words.

"They say talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."

Watanuki jumped and glared at Doumeki who was casually leaning against a tree. "They also say sneaking up on people is very rude."

"Hm. Do you have my lunch?"

Watanuki scowled and held out the second bento he was carrying. "You better be happy with what's in it, jerk. I can't wait until college, then I won't have to make you anything anymore!"

Doumeki raised an eyebrow. "You're going to Tokyo University, aren't you?"

"Yes. Why?" he answered suspiciously.

"That's where I'm going to college."

Watanuki blinked and then glared at the taller boy now calmly eating the bento he had made. _'What? I thought I'd be rid of him once I graduated!' _he thought in annoyance, though a small part of him was actually quite glad he and Doumeki were going to be in the same university together. He ignored that part of him though, it was the same part of him that produced the strange flutters in his stomach whenever the other boy was near, after all.

"Something on my face?" Doumeki asked suddenly. That was when he realized he'd been staring at the other boy.

"No," he said quickly and looked down in slight embarrassment.

Luckily for him at that moment Himawari-chan arrived so Doumeki didn't get to say whatever he'd been opening his mouth to say. He felt a twinge of gratefulness towards the girl as he listened to her cheerful chatter.

The three of them certainly were an odd group, he thought absentmindedly. He used to hate Doumeki and have a huge crush on Himawari-chan but now Doumeki was something close to a friend and his crush on Himawari-chan had faded into mere admiration and respect for the girl who was now one of his closest friends. Their personalities were also vastly different from one another and yet here they were sharing lunch.

'_I suppose this is something I have Yuko to thank for_' he thought. Not that he was ever going to say anything to her. She'd probably say that was something he owed her too.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

It was with a great amount of relief that Watanuki headed over to Yuko's shop after school. _'You know it's been a bad day when I actually look forward to going there' _he thought cynically.

To his surprise though, Yuko wasn't there with orders as she usually was. In fact, the shop was eerily quiet. He put down his bag as the pipe spirit flew out of it and squeaked in curiosity at the empty store.

Feeling slightly creeped out, Watanuki started to go to the backrooms and then finally came across Maru and Moro peering into a room he didn't remember ever going in. But then he didn't make it a point to explore all of Yuko's store. He felt it was safer for his sanity to just not know about everything in the store.

"Hey, you two. Where's Yuko?" he asked, coming up behind.

The girls turned to him and pressed fingers against their lips.

"Mistress is busy now," Maru said.

"You must not disturb her," Moro added.

"Oh. Okay. I'll be out in the front then," Watanuki said in confusion. He thought Maru and Moro were cute, but sometimes they creeped him out when they got those blank looks on their faces, like the ones they had on now.

He didn't see Yuko or the girls all afternoon so he spent most of the time just dusting and straightening out things. It wasn't until around six that Yuko finally came out of the backrooms followed by the black pork bun and the girls.

"Something bad is going to come," she announced as she came into the room.

Watanuki blinked at stared at her. "Huh?"

"Something bad is going to come," she repeated calmly. "Which means you need to go get beer."

"WHAT! What kind of logic is that!" he demanded.

"It's perfectly logical. Now go."

"It's perfectly logical," Maru and Moro gleefully repeated.

With a scowl on his face and much muttering about the bad effects of alcohol Watanuki did as he was told. Only because by now, he knew it was pointless to argue.

'_I knew this was going to be a bad day'_ he thought sourly as he headed for the store.

AUTHOR NOTES:

Yeesh this was hard to write. I know Watanuki and Doumeki seem a little OOC but you have to remember: this fic is set about three years after the first volume starts. I do not know how old the characters are because it's never clearly stated but I'm figuring Watanuki is at least fifteen then, or sixteen. So they've had about three years to grow as people and become "somewhat friends". I know not much happened in this chapter, I was just trying to give people a feel for what's going on in Watanuki's life now and I'm also still mapping out how to introduce the conflict.


	3. Chapter 2: It Starts

HITSUZEN

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: T/PG-13

DISCLAIMER: I do not own xxxHolic or any of its characters and am not making any money off of this ;sniffs;

AUTHOR NOTES: there will be future yaoi, please do not flame me for it I do not tolerate flames. Thank you to all who reviewed the last part; please keep the feedback coming!

CHAPTER 2: IT STARTS

Watanuki walked around his small apartment later that night in annoyance. After going to get alcohol for Yuko the woman made him cook her and Mokona dinner. Of course, being Yuko, she had eaten all of it and had drank all the beer. _'She's old enough to know beer is bad enough for her,_' Watanuki thought exasperatedly as he cooked himself his own dinner. '_But she still continuously drinks it. She's going to have major stomach problems when she gets older.'_

Then he couldn't help but wondered why he cared. It wasn't like Yuko was a relative or anything. If anything she was a meddling annoyance in his life. Yet, he still couldn't help but like her somewhat. _'She's as confusing as Domeki is' _he thought with a sigh. The fox spirit heard his sigh and crooned at him. "I'm fine," he assured the spirit, who went back to his curled up state on the counter.

'_My life is just confusing as hell'_

xxxHolic

After finishing his studying for the night Watanuki got into bed.

Then almost immediately after falling asleep awoke with a frown. He glanced around his room trying to figure out what had woken him. Everything seemed to be fine. The fox spirit was curled up next to him on the pillow but it wasn't making any noise. Nothing had fallen from his desk or night stand so what had woken him up? The boy frowned and then got up. He walked out to the living area of his apartment and then blinked at the open window.

"I didn't leave the window open," he muttered and looked warily around. _'A thief?'_ he thought in panic. While he wasn't completely helpless there wasn't much he could do against a criminal who might have a gun. He prayed whatever intruder had been there didn't have a gun. If he didn't then he might have a chance to put those self-defense lessons Domeki had taught him to some actual use.

He hadn't wanted the lessons at first, insisting he was just fine not knowing any martial arts, but the taller boy could be down right stubborn when he wanted to be. He finally got Watanuki to agree to them by pointing out that he might be able to use the self defense against some spirit or another if the spirit got violent with him which they sometimes had the tendency to do. Liking the thought of not having to completely depend on Domeki for protection he eventually agreed.

'_That's when these feelings started_' the boy reflected sourly as he tried to determine where the intruder was.

Just as he was about to turn to the kitchen area a noise caught his attention and he looked up. He then froze as he saw a black figure hanging on the ceiling like a spider. _'Since when could thieves do that!_' he thought frantically and got into a defensive stance looking around hopefully for some sort of weapon.

But the figure's arms shot forward and extended to grasp him before he could move. _'A spirit!' _None of the spirits he had ever encountered ever acted like this before but it was obvious that this wasn't some regular thief. Unless thieves could usually extend their body limbs to reach across rooms.

Watanuki immediately tried to break the strong grasp on his shoulders but before he could something pierced through his thin t-shirt and into his skin. He gasped in pain and then stared in slight shock as the arms started to glow a soft blue color. Then he got dizzy and his vision started to blur in spite of his glasses. It felt like the...thing was draining something from him.

He started to struggle still despite the slightly weak feeling in his bones now when the creature suddenly hissed in pain and let him go. Watanuki gasped in relief and looked up to see the fox spirit (now in his large form) clamping it's mouth on the creature's arms. The spirit jumped back and then nudged him with it's nose.

"I'm okay," he said softly; even though he really didn't feel okay. Watanuki got slowly up and looked at the spirit clutching one of it's arms. Then it suddenly lunged for him again. Before he could move the fox spirit used his mouth to pull him onto it's back and it jumped out the open, and thankfully large, window. Watanuki clung to the fox spirit's neck in surprise as it started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, when he glanced back he saw the creature following them.

"Go to Domeki's place!" he told the fox spirit. It made a sound that he guessed was an agreement and turned in the direction of the temple. Watanuki silently hoped that Domeki wouldn't tease him too badly about needing his help. It wasn't that he couldn't handle spirits on his own, but this wasn't a regular spirit and even if it was, he couldn't exorcize spirits but Domeki could. Even if Domeki couldn't do anything, he felt safer when the other boy was around; not that he'd ever tell the other that in a million years.

But denial couldn't stop the relief he felt when he saw the temple come into view. The minute the fox spirit landed he got off and rushed to the front door, and started banging on the door frantically. "Domeki! Get up, you jerk! There's a crazy spirit after my blood or something!"

He continued to pound on the door even as the creature arrived and the fox spirit moved protectively in front of him. Finally the door opened to reveal an irritated looking Domeki dressed in pajama pants and with very messy hair carrying his bow and a few arrows. "What is wrong now?" he said in an annoyed tone. Then he glanced over the boy's shoulder and his eyes widened a bit. "What the hell is that?"

"I don't know! It got into my appartment and did this freaky arm thing and-" Watanuki paused and then stared at the taller boy. "Wait...you SEE it?" Domeki had never actually seen the spirits he'd exorcized before, he usually relied on Watanuki to know where to shoot.

"It's a little hard to miss," Domeki said blandly. He had a point there. The creature was now shooting some sort of energy at the fox spirit in order to get past it and get to Watanuki. The fox spirit was dodging but it's luck eventually ran out and one of the blasts hit on of its legs and it fell to the ground.

Watanuki gasped and ran towards it.

"Idiot! Stay back!" Domeki tried to stop him but growled in annoyance when the other boy moved too fast. The creature's limbs shot forward and grabbed Watanuki. Domeki glared at it as it started to glow again. "I don't think so," he muttered and aimed an arrow at one of the arms. Naturally, it hit it's target and the creature yelped and then disappeared.

Watanuki panted a few seconds on the ground and then checked on the fox spirit. "Oh no," he murmured as he saw the injured leg.

"Do you have any sense?" Domeki asked as he walked over to the kneeling boy. "If some thing is after you, wouldn't it make sense to stay out of it's way?"

"It's hurt badly," Watanuki said, ignoring Domeki completely who scowled when he noticed this.

"Shizuka?" a voice came from the door. Both boys looked up to see a woman that Watanuki guessed was Domeki's mother. She was slim with black hair and had the same color eyes as Domeki. Her eyes had the same effect as Domeki's as well; when they rested on him curiously, he couldn't help but fidget. "Is everything all right?"

"It's all right, Mother," Domeki said. "A spirit was harassing Watanuki, that's all."

Watanuki blinked and glared at Domeki. '_Is he crazy? There's no way she'd buy that!_'

Then to his further surprise the woman merely nodded. "Oh. Well, then I'll be going back to bed. Watanuki, you're welcome to stay the night, if you wish." With that, she turned and left, leaving behind her amused looking son and a baffled Watanuki.

The minute she left, Watanuki glared at Domeki. "You told your mother about me!"

The other boy shrugged. "Mother knows quite a bit about spirits due to my grandfather. She doesn't have much power but she can sense them. Besides, I had to explain my injuries to her and I don't lie very well."

"You don't get injured that often," Watanuki muttered.

Domeki snorted. "If you say so. Let's get him cleaned up," he said, nodding at the fox spirit who had returned to it's smaller size and was now curled up in Watanuki's lap nursing its' wound.

"Yeah," Watanuki said softly, picking the spirit up and standing up. Then he got a good luck at Domeki and blushed when he saw that the other boy was shirtless.

"What?" Domeki demanded, noticing the blush.

"Nothing," he said quickly, looking away. "Let's go."

'_You are NOT enjoying the view_' Watanuki firmly told himself, even though he knew perfectly well he was lying to himself.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

Across Tokyo, Japan in a dark room a man hidden in shadows watched the two boys go inside.

"It didn't work," the woman beside him pointed out.

"No," he said calmly. "Very clever of Yuko to assign her son a protector."

"What will you do now?"

"I'll observe. There's plenty of time. After all, I've only just begun."

AUTHORS NOTE: Yeah, I know, really short. I'm still planning out the fine details of this fic. I'm also really sort of guessing about Domeki's mother because in the manga not much info is really given about his parents. We know his grandfather saw spirits so I'm sort of figuring that his mother has at least some experience with spirits. As for shirtless Domeki...I just couldn't resist ;smirk;


	4. Chapter 3: Unease

HITSUZEN

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: PG-13

DISCLAIMER: I don't own xxxHolic or any of it's characters and am not making any money off of this. Please don't sue.

WARNING: There will be yaoi of the Domeki/Watanuki sort. No flames please, if you don't like it, don't read.

AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you all who have encouraged me so far. I know I'm being painfully slow about this but it's my first xxxHolic fic so I keep wanting to check that I have the right information and I have three other fics going on right now. As of this point, I have no idea how long this will be but right now I'm estimating about ten chapters plus, the prologue and epilogue.

On with the fic:

CHAPTER 3: UNEASE

Watanuki hadn't really been in Domeki's house before. He had been to the temple, but never to where he and his mother lived when they weren't taking care of the place. It was surprisingly warm and inviting. He wasn't sure why, but he'd thought that maybe the place would be as emotionless as Domeki himself. But then, Watanuki argued with himself, his mother probably was responsible for how the place looked.

From what he saw, Domeki's mother was the complete opposite of her son. When he followed Domeki inside, carrying the injured pipe spirit with him, she had already put on a tea kettle and immediately asked him how he liked his tea.

Then Domeki had to go and ruin his perception of him: he smiled. He actually smiled at his mother! Watanuki couldn't help but stare at how different he looked when it happened. Domeki unfortunately noticed this and the smile stopped and he asked, "What?"

"Nothing," he said quickly and glanced back down at his task of wrapping a bandage around the pipe spirit's leg. What he wanted to do was blurt out, "You CAN smile!" But he couldn't really do that in front of the other boy's mother; that would be rude. His mother probably had no idea how cold her son could be and it would be bad of him to disillusion her.

He was a little disappointed when Domeki didn't smile again after that. Smiling did wonders for the other's features. It softened his eyes; it made him look younger and not as cold and unapproachable. It also made Watanuki's heart speed up for some odd reason that he wasn't going to think about right now. Thinking about the reason would destroy the nice little bubble of denial he had built around himself and right now he had enough to worry about.

"Are you all right, Watanuki-san?" Domeki's mother looked at him in concern.

Watanuki jerked out of his thoughts and nodded quickly. "Yes, Ma'am. Thank you for letting me stay the night."

"It's all right. Hopefully with our extra wards those creatures won't attack you here."

"Yeah," the boy murmured. Then he frowned at Domeki's mother, "So you know all about spirits and everything?"

The woman nodded. "The ability to see and exorcize spirits has been in my family for generations. Though it's diminished a bit with me and Shizuka."

Watanuki glanced out the window outside to where Domeki was putting up wards on the temple's entrance. "How come?"

"Father married my mother who didn't possess any spiritual powers and I married my husband who was also powerless. Most of the time if you want the power to be stronger in the next generation, you marry another person with a power similar to yours. My father didn't care about that and so I ended up only being able to see spirits. Domeki ended up being able to exorcize spirits."

"Oh. I guess that would make sense." Then Watanuki frowned and asked curiously, "Um, may I ask what happened to Domeki's father?"

For the first time since he'd met her, Domeki's mother's smile faded. "I'm afraid he died when Domeki was very young."

"Oh. I'm sorry." He decided not to inquire further. It was obviously a painful subject.

Domeki came in before his mother could say anything else and sat down next to Watanuki. "I put up some extra strong wards. Nothing spiritual will be getting in here tonight. How is he?" He asked, nodding at the pipe spirit now curled up in Watanuki's lap.

"I bandaged his leg but I don't know how else to help him. I hope Yuko can help him tomorrow."

"Yeah. By the way, why did you come here?"

"Huh?" Watanuki looked up at the taller boy questionably. Domeki was looking at him with slight curiosity and something he didn't want to decipher.

"Why did you come here? Why didn't you go to Yuko's place instead? She probably would've been able to help you better then I could've."

"I-, " Watanuki started and then paused._ 'Why DID I come here automatically?' _ He knew the truth but wasn't about to admit that he just felt safer around Domeki to the other boy. "This place was closer. I just wanted that thing off my back."

"Hmm..." Domeki grunted. He got the distinct feeling the taller boy didn't believe him.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

Later that night Watanuki found himself unable to sleep.

It was perfectly understandable, he reasoned with himself. He'd just been attacked by some crazy thing, of course he wouldn't be able to sleep. His mind kept wandering back to when that creature had grabbed him and he'd felt like he was being drained.

'_It was pulling something from me, but what?'_ He wondered in the dark. It wasn't blood, he knew that much because there was no puncture wounds from where the fingers had gripped him. But whatever the creature had been draining it was enough to make him feel sleepy.

He sighed. _'There's no use worrying about it, I'll probably find out when I talk to Yuko tomorrow. I bet she knows what that thing is and how to get rid of it.'_

He turned over and fell asleep.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

Yuko frowned as she looked in one of her mirrors.

This was not supposed to happen. Not now of all times.

"I'm going to have to tell him soon," she murmured quietly. Sometimes she really hated her life.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

"...Then Domeki shot his bow and the thing disappeared," Watanuki finished his tale with a deep breathe and then looked at Yuko. "So?"

"Domeki-kun, you could see this creature?" the woman asked.

Domeki nodded. "It wasn't as scary as Watanuki is making it out to be though."

The boy in question scowled at him. "What are you talking about! It was so!"

Domeki just shrugged nonchalantly causing Watanuki to scowl further. He hated it when he acted like major things were no big deal. It was annoying. Didn't anything break through that stoic shell of his?

It had been a slight surprise when Yuko had shown up just as Watanuki and the Domeki family were settling down for breakfast. The woman had of course immediately ordered Watanuki to make them all breakfast. He started to protest and Domeki's mother had started to say something until her son mentioned what a great cook he was and then the woman suddenly said it would be nice to have a break from cooking. Though he didn't think all the instant stuff that was in the kitchen could really be counted as cooking. Instant seemed to be what the family lived on. No wonder Domeki was always mooching bentos off of him; it was probably the only real food he ever got.

When he finished cooking and sat down he immediately proceeded to tell Yuko about what happened last night. Maybe it was his imagination but she seemed slightly distracted. Of course that could be because Mokona was talking into thin air on her shoulder. It seemed as though the other Mokona traveling with Syaoran and his group had decided to call up.

To his surprise though, Yuko didn't know what the creature was.

"What do you mean, you don't know!" he shouted, feeling oddly betrayed.

"Even I don't know every creature in the universe, Watanuki," Yuko answered calmly. "But it seems to want something for you so I think it's best if you stick close to Domeki and keep the pipe spirit with you at all times."

"He's welcome to stay here," Domeki's mother piped up suddenly. She had been enjoying the food and had been silent up until then. "Especially if he cooks more meals like this."

'_Oh great, another meal moocher'_ Watanuki thought in exasperation. _'Now I know where Domeki gets it.'_

Out loud, and politely as possible, he shook his head and said, "That's fine, I'll be okay in my apartment."

"Actually, that might be a good idea, Watanuki," Yuko said.

"What! No!"

The woman smiled slyly. "Well, if you don't want to stay here, you could always stay at my store. Of course I'll have to take the charge out of your pay."

"I'll stay here," he muttered. He didn't want anything more taken out of his pay. If there were more charges he'd be working for Yuko for the rest of his life.

"Great. Now that that is settled, I have some things to do. Watanuki, I'll see you at the store later today." Before he could protest that it was supposed to be his day off, she was gone.

He sighed and muttered, "What did I do to deserve this?"

xxxHolic

Yuko was just about to reach the temple's entrance when a voice said behind her, "Hey."

She blinked and turned to Domeki who had followed her outside.

"You know more then you're saying," he said bluntly.

She smiled slightly. She had always liked Domeki. He was blunt and highly perceptive. Not to mention he was highly devoted to her son, though Watanuki seemed to be in denial about that.

"What makes you say that, Domeki-kun?" she said calmly.

"Unlike the idiot, I notice things. You said you didn't know what that creature was, your face was saying something else."

"You're imagining things, Domeki-kun."

A raised eyebrow told her he didn't believe her for a second.

Yuko sighed. "Young people. So doubtful nowadays. If you'll excuse me, Domeki-kun." She started to leave but was stopped by a question.

"Something big is happening, isn't it?"

She glanced back at him. "Yes. That's why you have to keep him safe."

"I will."

Yuko smiled. "I know."

Then she left.

AUTHOR NOTES: I really hope these honorifics are correct. If they aren't, please let me know. PLEASE REVIEW!


	5. Chapter 4: Popping the Bubble

HITSUZEN

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: T/PG-13

DISCLAIMER: I don't own xxxHolic/Tsubasa or any of it's characters. That honor goes to CLAMP. I'm not making any money off of this either so please don't sue.

PAIRINGS: Domeki/Watanuki, and past Clow/Yuko.

AUTHOR NOTES: No, I'm not dead. The reason for the massive delay is a) finals and end-of-the semester projects that my evil teachers assigned (all due at once of course), b) my bitchy computer that decided to not work. It's still not working properly so I'm updating while I have the chance, and c) my fics from other fandoms. I finally finished my HP fics and have started to write a Naruto fic and a Tsubasa; Resevoir Chronicles fic mainly due to my current obsession with these fandoms and this one. God willing there will be faster updates from now on. Thank you to all those who kept giving encouragement even when it looked like the fic was abandoned.

CHAPTER 4: POPPING THE BUBBLE

The next two weeks for Watanuki were a blur.

He moved into the Domeki household temporarily and so spent that weekend setting up his guest room and getting acquainted with the temple and the Domeki families' routine. After that was school and of course working in Yuko's store. Other then the fact that he now went home in a different direction and now had people to come home too nothing really changed much for him. The pipe fox spirit's injury had healed by the next day, something Yuko assured him was quite normal for pipe spirits, and so stuck close by him at all times. Domeki too, seemed to be glued to his side ever since the creature surfaced that night.

There had been no more attacks on him since that night and Watanuki couldn't get a solid answer from Yuko on what the creature was. Every time he asked her if she had found something out she conviently changed the subject. He was beginning to wonder if she was doing it on purpose. After about a week he finally gave up and figured if she found out she would tell him. At least that's what he told himself. Sometimes he got the feeling that Yuko never really told him the exact truth about things.

_'I hope she finds out something soon though, I'm not sure if I can take living with Domeki much longer' _he thought as he looked out the window during the class lecture.

It wasn't that he didn't like living with the Domeki's. It was actually kind of nice. Domeki's mother was always up for a chat over tea and always had a cheerful smile on her face. She reminded Watanuki somewhat of Himawari-chan with her cheerful demeanor, though she did get serious sometimes, such as when she talked about Domeki's deceased father or grandfather. The more he got to know her the more he liked her and the more he found it hard to believe she and Domeki were even related; but they were. Evidently Domeki had gotten more of his father's personality.

The problem was that he was starting to gain insight to Domeki.

Everywhere in the Domeki household there were pictures. A lot of the pictures were of Domeki himself, ranging from childhood to his teen years. There was always a story to go with the pictures as well and Domeki's mother didn't hesitate to tell the story, even if her son protested. It was obvious she was quite proud of her son. The stories made Domeki seem...human. He knew perfectly well Domeki was human, but sometimes with the way the other boy acted he seemed like a robot sometimes. It was like nothing fazed him at all; a trait that irritated Watanuki quite a bit.

Then there was seeing Domeki almost every spare bit of his free time. He saw the other in the morning, when his hair was still wet from the shower; during breakfast, where he quickly learned the other boy's favorite foods since he was usually the one cooking; walking to and from school; several times during school; and he saw him when he was home and much more relaxed.

Spending more time with him then usual was slowly starting to shrink his bubble of denial. He didn't like it.

"Watanuki-kun?" a voice interrupted his thoughts on the archer and he turned to see Himawari looking at him. "Class is over. Didn't you realize that?"

With a start he looked around and saw that the girl was right; the teacher had stopped his boring lecture and was now talking to students and others were hurridly stuffing books in their bags in an attempt to get out of school as fast as they could. He grinned sheepishly, "Guess I spaced out for a bit."

Himawari smiled, "That's understandable; it's a pretty day outside."

Watanuki wisely decided not to say he hadn't been distracted by the pretty day but by a certain guy. As he gathered up his books Himawari asked him if he was going to the field. He blinked and asked her, "Why would I be going there?"

The girl looked at him funny, "Because of Domeki-kun's tournament, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that IS today, isn't it?" he mumbled. _'Damn, here was I hoping to get away from him for awhile at Yuko's store...' _

But he did say he'd be there. A part of him, the rebellious side of him, wanted to just leave; he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself after all, he'd been doing it long before Domeki came along. But he did promise Yuko that he'd stick close to the archer at all possible times. _'Damn conscious of mine...' _he thought in exasperation and so followed Himawari out to to the archery field.

A small group of people had already gathered to watch the school's team which wasn't very surprising; their team was actually pretty good. Watanuki grudgingly admitted that a lot of their wins were due to Domeki. The match turned out to be very close thanks to the fact that they were playing one of the top archery school teams in the district. Watanuki found himself inadvertingly holding his breathe every time one of the archers let loose an arrow.

When the final round started Himawari looked at her friend and smiled when she saw how focused on it he was. "Isn't this exciting?"

"Huh? Oh yeah," he said and smiled back, but he then returned his attention back to Domeki and the other archer on the field.

The archer from the other school went first and hit the target. It was a little ways from the center though. Domeki then readied his bow; as he lifted it his eyes met Watanuki's for a few seconds and the archer's lips quirked upwards a little (very little) on the left. Then he raised the bow and shot the arrow. Watanuki barely registered the crowd's cheers as the arrow hit dead center, thus winning the match for the team. He was too busy trying to tell the butterflies in his stomach to quit fluttering around.

_'It was just a stupid smile!'_ He thought furiously as people started to get up. _'It wasn't even a whole smile! Why am I reacting like this?' _

"Watanuki-kun?" Himawari looked at him in slight concern. He figured it was because he'd been sitting there with his hand over his stomach and frowning for over a minute. He glanced over at Domeki who was now getting congratulated along with his teammates.

"I've got to go," he said suddenly.

Himawari looked at him in confusion. "What? Now? Don't you want to go over and congratulate Domeki-kun?"

"Tell him congratulations for me," he said quickly. He then grabbed his bag and left as quickly as he could.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

A few minutes (and several blocks later) Watanuki decided that it was living with the Domeki family that was causing all the weird thoughts and feelings so he decided it was time he went back to his place. _'There hasn't been an attack in two weeks anyway, whatever that thing was has probably high-tailed it out of here or decided that I'm not worth it.' _he thought. That was exactly what he was going to tell Yuko too, he decided, as he walked determinedly towards her store.

But as he entered the store he found it to be eerily quiet._ 'Where is everyone?' _he thought in confusion, looking around. Usually when he arrived Yuko was up to something, usually something involving beer, or immediately showed up to beg him for food. If she was out, Maru and Moro would be there to greet him with happy smiles. Then of course the black pork bun could always be counted on to be somewhere causing mischief. But none of them were there.

With a slight uneasy feeling he started wandering through the many hallways of the strange house. He had only been in a few of the many rooms so he became more nervous as he wandered further then he usually did. _'Maybe I should come back later...' _he thought apprehensively. Then he heard quiet voices coming from a room he'd never been into before at the end of the corrider. He hesitated, then quietly crept up to the door but stopped when he heard his name mentioned.

"...you must tell Watanuki-san, Yuko-chan. This is going to involve him; Mariko-san will make sure it will."

_'Who's Mariko?'_ he thought in confusion. _'Tell me what?' _Now curious, he decided not to announce his presence just then. Instead he bent forward and looked cautiously through the slight crack in the sliding door. He blinked in surprise when he saw the old fortune-teller he and Yuko had gone to visit earlier. _'Was that really only three years ago?' _he thought in amazement. _'It seems like a lifetime ago...'_

"I know I must tell him I'm just trying to figure out how to tell him." Yuko replied. Watanuki frowned, he'd never heard Yuko sound so tired before.

"Well you'd best figure out how to soon," the fortune-teller said. "Trouble is coming. He's going to be in the middle of it too. That archer and the pipe fox spirit won't be able to protect him forever, you know."

"Domeki-kun will certainly try, though," Yuko said. He couldn't see her face but Watanuki could tell from the tone in her voice she had on that smile of hers again. The one she always wore when she spoke of him and Domeki. It told Watanuki that she knew something he didn't about the two of them and it drove him nuts.

"Yes; but nevertheless, he MUST know." the old woman said firmly.

"How would you have me tell him?" Yuko suddenly burst out. "Should I just take him aside and tell him 'Watanuki-kun, I've not been entirely truthful to you these past three years. The truth is I'm your biological mother and right now there's a woman who wants revenge on me and Clow, who by the way is your biological father, and so is going after you now.'"

Watanuki couldn't stop the loud gasp that escaped him. He put his hands over his mouth but it was too late, both women had heard him and the door slid open. Yuko froze when she saw him standing there and the fortune-teller sighed.

For several minutes they all just stared at each other. Watanuki didn't know about the other two but he was trying to deny what he'd heard. How could Yuko possibly be his mother? It was ridiculous. Sure, he knew that the people he had called Mother and Father had adopted him when he was a baby but he'd never given it much thought. To him they would always be his parents and no one else. Certainly not Yuko who drank, smoked, and was absolutely nothing like him. Definitely not some weird sorcerer named Clow either.

"Watanuki...," Yuko started to say something but Watanuki stopped her.

"It's not true!" he burst out, angrily. "You're lying!"

The fortune-teller snorted. "Silly boy, why would Yuko-chan lie about something like that?"

"I don't know, but it's not true," he insisted, almost desperately. Then for good measure he glared at Yuko and repeated, "It's not!"

Yuko stared at him with an unreadable look on her face for several seconds and then said, "I'm sorry, Watanuki-kun, but I am your mother."

She started to say something else but Watanuki didn't want to hear it so he did what he usually did when he didn't want to face something.

He ran.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

Yuko stared after her son as he ran out of the room.

"Aren't you going to go after him?" the fortune-teller asked softly.

"No," she said. "He won't want to speak to me or listen to me. I best give him some space now." She turned to the old woman and said, "You knew he was there." It was a statement, not a question.

The fortune-teller nodded. "Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"He was going to learn the truth sooner or later. You can't fight hitsuzen, you know."

Yuko sighed and muttered, "Sometimes I really hate hitsuzen."

AUTHOR NOTES: Yes, I know these things are dreadfully short; it's just the way it turned out. Hopefully there will be faster updates now. The fortune-teller doesn't have a name mentioned because CLAMP doesn't really name her I don't think and I don't want to shame them by giving a lame fandom name. So she's nameless for now. PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. Chapter 5: Anchor

HITSUZEN

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: T/PG-13

DISCLAIMER: I don't own xxxHolic, Tsubasa or any related characters. That honor goes to CLAMP.

PAIRING: Domeki/Watanuki, past Clow/Yuko.

AUTHOR NOTES: Thank you all reviewed the last part! The encouragement was great. As promised, here is a faster update. Well…it's shorter then the last update anyway.

CHAPTER 5: ANCHOR

If there was one word that Domeki could come up with to describe Watanuki Kimihiro it was confusing. The boy was the oddest creature he had ever encountered before in his life. One moment he was smiling blissfully, the next moment he could be hissing like a cat. If Domeki hadn't seen him change before in the locker rooms he would swear the boy was a woman with the way his moods switched practically every minute.

Normally Domeki hated people who drove him crazy with their mood swings. This was probably why he didn't like females all that much now that he thought about it, but on Watanuki the mood swings were rather cute. He knew that was a strange thing to think but after so long he just accepted the fact that he found everything Watanuki did fascinating.

But right now the boy was really driving his patience; considering how much he had, that was saying something. On the day of his last tournament (exactly one week ago) the boy had disappeared. Though he tried to hide it well, Domeki became rather worried when he didn't show up at the temple for hours. Finally at around midnight Watanuki trudged in, looking like a drowned rat because it had started pouring outside, mumbled an apology to his two worried hosts and then practically ran to his guest room. He'd been in a sour mood ever since.

Though sour mood was probably putting it nicely; he never talked anymore, he made food for Domeki without complaint (even when the boy deliberately asked for something extremely difficult just to get a rise out of him), and he stared out the window during class with a frown on his face according to Himawari. Even more cause for concern was the fact that he had started to snap at everyone, even Himawari. Yesterday during P.E. he had practically tried to start a fight over a minor incident; he might have succeeded if Domeki hadn't have pulled him away from the other (very confused) boy.

It didn't take a genius to see that something was bugging Watanuki. Something big. He wasn't positive, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Yuko. He hadn't been going to the store ever since that day; Domeki didn't buy his excuse that she had given him time off until the mystery of the creature was solved. He became even more suspicious when this morning, his mother had asked Watanuki if Yuko had said anything to him about the creature and a dark look had come over the boy's face and he said shortly, "No."

Normally he would just let the idiot sort things out on his own, but it was becoming obvious that he was avoiding the issue, just like he avoided all complicated issues. Rather then find this cute, he found that it was starting to piss him off. Domeki frowned as he looked at the subject of his thoughts who was sitting next to him during lunch.

"What are you looking at!" Watanuki snapped.

Domeki shrugged and went back to his bento. He ignored the scowl he received and thought _'If he doesn't deal with whatever is going on in one week, I'm going to knock some sense into him.'_

xxxHolicxxxHolic

A few days later he and Watanuki were walking home, the other boy was pointedly ignoring him and Domeki found his irritation starting to grow to new heights. They entered the shrine slowly and started making their way to the Domeki's home when Watanuki suddenly stopped and stared up ahead. Domeki frowned at the smaller boy and followed his gaze to the front of his home where Yuko was now standing.

The woman looked the same as always, dressed in one of her elaborate outfits, but she was unusually serious-looking. Domeki glanced back at Watanuki and frowned in confusion when he saw how tense the other was. '_What the hell is up with these two?_' he wondered and tried nudging Watanuki forward but the other boy refused to budge.

Yuko solved the problem and started walking towards them instead. Watanuki tensed up even more beside him as she got closer. Sensing that the other was about to run, Domeki placed a hand on his arm. He didn't know what was wrong between the two of them, but he knew if Watanuki ran, the problem would never get solved. The boy glared at him but stayed put.

When Yuko stood directly in front of them she nodded at Domeki and then looked at Watanuki. "We need to talk."

"I've got nothing to say to you," he said, looking away from her.

Yuko smiled, though it looked a little sad to Domeki, "Somehow I doubt that, but regardless, we HAVE to talk."

"I already know I'm in danger," Watanuki snapped. "I'm staying with the jerk like you told me too and the pipe fox spirit hasn't left my side, so I fail to see what else we have to talk about."

Yuko sighed, "Watanuki-kun, you're being stubborn."

"Gee," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I wonder where I get it from, MOTHER." Domeki started at that and thanks to his surprise Watanuki was able to yank his arm away and run off.

He watched the boy disappear around the corner and turned to Yuko. "Did he just call you mother?"

"Yes, he did," Yuko said quietly.

"Why?"

"Because I am."

Domeki stared at her. "Last time I checked Watanuki's parents were dead."

Yuko shook her head. "Those were his adoptive parents, whom Clow and I chose to take care of him."

Domeki decided not to ask who Clow was. "No wonder he's been pissed off lately."

"Go after him," she said, nodding in the direction her son had run off too. "It's too dangerous for him to be alone right now."

"More dangerous for me, you mean," he muttered. "He's probably going to bite my head off if I try talking to him now."

Yuko smirked, "When has that ever stopped you?"

Feeling a bit of relief at seeing the normal face on the woman he nodded and headed off in the direction that Watanuki had taken off in.

xxxHolicxxxHolic

After about a half hour of searching, Domeki finally found Watanuki in the park near his shrine. The boy had found a secluded space under a tree by the lake and was staring out at the water.

"So, is that why you've been such a head case lately?" he greeted Watanuki as he sat down next to him.

"Go away," Watanuki muttered.

Domeki ignored him and the boy scowled at him. "Why do you never listen to me? I said go away!"

"I don't listen to you because you're an idiot," Domeki said bluntly. It was true too in his opinion. Just because he had feelings for the boy didn't mean he didn't see the other's obvious faults.

"Argh!" Watanuki yelled, and got to his knees. "You don't know anything about this! Yet, you're acting like you do! Leave me alone!"

"Yuko-san's your mother. Obviously you just found out. What more do I need to know?" he said. "I'm not leaving you alone either. When you're like this you get stupid ideas or into stupid situations."

"She's NOT MY MOTHER!" Watanuki yelled and threw a fist at him. Domeki dodged it in surprise and then found himself dodging another punch. "Mothers don't give their children up for adoption! They don't make their children buy them booze or make them work in some wacky store! They don't send them off into dangerous situations! They don't LIE to their children about who they are!" Finally getting tired of dodging punches Domeki grabbed the boy's arms to hold him in place and Watanuki finally stilled.

Domeki was slightly startled; he'd never seen Watanuki like this, it was starting to freak him out a bit. He glanced down at the now subdued Watanuki and frowned. "Look, I don't know why Yuko-san didn't tell you she was your mother, that's something you'll have to ask her about. But I do know that you're going to have to accept it eventually."

"I don't want too," Watanuki muttered sullenly.

"Yes, well, we all have to do things we don't want to sometimes," he said, cringing internally at the fact that he was starting to sound like his own mother. He blinked in surprise when Watanuki suddenly bent his head against his chest and wound his arms around his waist.

"You're not going to make me go back there now are you?" Watanuki asked, his voice muffled against Domeki's chest.

"No. Too much work," he said in understanding and brought his arms around Watanuki who shifted closer to him. The two sat there under the tree for quite awhile, how long Domeki wasn't sure and to be honest, he really didn't care. For now, all that mattered was the boy in his arms.

TO BE CONTINUED…

AUTHOR NOTES: ;bangs head on wall; Domeki POV is so damn hard to write! Mostly because due to his expressions you can't tell what the boy is thinking so I have know way of knowing how he thinks, other then protect Watanuki (oh come on, you know that's what he's thinking half the time, not just because Yuko asks him too either). Well, I did my best. Here is the one fluff chapter before all hell breaks loose. Hopefully will be shorter updates in the future but can't say for sure, depends on my professors…


End file.
